


A Matter of Time

by ellipsometry



Series: ✧SASO 2017✧ [6]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Library, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 18:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11296086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellipsometry/pseuds/ellipsometry
Summary: prompt: you're due to return at least ten books to the library I work at but you keep borrowing more...id tell you to return them but your interest in these various topics is so cute please come againOr, Oikawa is a long-suffering part-time librarian; Bokuto and Kuroo compete for his attention (with varying degrees of success.)





	A Matter of Time

**Author's Note:**

> written for [SASO 2017 bonus round 2](https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/22249.html?thread=12036585#cmt12036585)~

Oikawa is halfway through his second latte of the night when he spots _him_. It’s the third time this week that Bed Head has stopped by the library, meandering slowly through the shelves, all long limbs and unruly black hair.

The guy checks out so many books and has so many outstanding rentals that Oikawa really should know his name by now, but it still escapes him. Taro? Tamaki? Something with a T.

“Kuroo Testurou.”

“Um,” Oikawa startles, looking up to find Bed Head looming over the rental desk, smirking. Had Oikawa been thinking out loud? Oh, please lord, not again—

“I forgot my library card at home,” Bed Head explains, leaning back, out of Oikawa’s space, “But you should be able to look up my info with my name, right?”

“Oh,” Oikawa swallows, adjusting his glasses, “No, actually. I could look it up with a phone number, though.”

Bed Head – Kuroo, Oikawa corrects himself – smirks again, “That’s a pretty clever way of getting a guy to give you his number, huh?”

“Very funny,” Oikawa deadpans, though his cheeks go pink, “Just save it, I’ll check you out on the main library card.” Kuroo holds his hands up in surrender, and Oikawa takes to checking out the pile of books one by one.

A collection of motivational speeches. _Beep._

A book entitled “How to Avoid Large Ships.” _Beep._

A cookbook dedicated to soufflés. _Beep._

Oikawa really shouldn’t be letting this guy check out more books, not when he has at least a dozen late rentals. In fact, if it were any other librarian, they would be pressing Kuroo to pay the massive amount of late fees he owes them. But Oikawa is only part-time, and this guy is just cute enough to get away with it. So, fuck it.

Besides, Oikawa thinks, looking surreptitiously up at Bed Head, noticing the way he’s pretty clearly checking Oikawa out – this guy will _definitely_ be back.

“Here you go. Have a wonderful day,” Oikawa hands the books over and Kuroo takes them, pausing, like he was expecting more. But Oikawa just raises an eyebrow at him.

Finally, Kuroo clears his throat, “Until next time, then,” he says, winking. He’s definitely trying to sound smooth. It’s for that reason that Oikawa pretends not to notice when Kuroo trips over his own feet on the way out of the library.

+

Bed Head doesn’t return for a while after that, and the absence goes on so long that Oikawa starts to get a bit annoyed. Not only does this guy owe the library thousands of yen in late fees, Oikawa now apparently has to re-evaluate his skill in sussing when a guy is checking him out.

“Maybe it’s the glasses,” Oikawa mumbles, adjusting his plastic frames. They aren’t prescription, so he could always just ditch them, but it would certainly mess with his whole Librarian Chic look, which had taken _months_ to cultivate.

“The glasses are cute!”

“... Excuse me?”

He’s been snuck up on again. Although, this time, when Oikawa looks up, it’s not Kuroo in front of him, but a seeming newcomer. A newcomer with biceps the size of a baby’s head, at that.

“Sorry, I was— I overheard you talking to yourself,” Huge Biceps says, running a hand through his hair. His hair, upon further inspection, might actually be the oddest thing about him; it’s streaked with silver and gelled all to hell. Oikawa tugs at his own bangs in sympathy for the surely over-worked strands.

“Well, thank you, in any case!” Oikawa says, tipping back in his chair, “I’m glad someone around here has good taste.”

“I’m Bokuto, by the way!” Huge Biceps says, grinning, “Bokuto Koutarou!”

“Did you, uh, want to open a library card? Bokuto-san?”

“Oh,” Bokuto frowns, like getting a library card in a library is an afterthought, rather than the main reason a person comes into a library in the first place, “Sure, why not?”

Oikawa helps Bokuto through all the requisite paperwork and checks out his books, sending him on his way with eight volumes of the _Chobits_ manga. Throughout it all, Bokuto’s eyes, an eerie shade of flaxen yellow, follow the movements of Oikawa’s hands eagerly. Oikawa smiles wanly up at him, and Bokuto returns the small smile with a wide grin of his own, his entire face completely unguarded.

Bokuto is a strange guy, is the conclusion Oikawa comes to. Strange, and interesting.

Finally, Bokuto and his massive muscles take their leave, “I’ll be back!” he says on his way out the door, “To bring these back!”

“That’s kind of the whole point of a library!” Oikawa yells back, earning him a good _shush_ ing from the other librarian on duty. But Bokuto is already gone.

+

Working at the local library has never really been _boring_ , per se, but it does have a great deal of down time. For this, Oikawa has always been grateful – he’s able to save up money by working part time, and can even finish a lot of his homework during the great lulls of time he’s afforded. Not to mention, having to stock and restock the shelves gives him an edge on his fellow university students when it comes to finding the exact right resources for his research papers.

But now, it seems, his time is also occupied by Kuroo and Bokuto, who visit the library far more often than any normal person needs to. If he didn’t know any better, Oikawa would think they were annoying him on a prearranged schedule: on days when Kuroo doesn’t visit, Bokuto is sure to, and vice versa.

Bokuto actually does return his books, and he starts checking out volumes and volumes of manga regularly. He only ever reads shoujo.

Kuroo never does return the books he checks out, but Oikawa is somehow always sweet-talked into letting him rent even more books. One compliment about his new overcoat and Oikawa is putty in his hands, letting Kuroo walk out with three textbooks on molecular biology, two copies of Shakespeare’s _Measure by Measure_ (why does he need two?), and a large book on the history of the automobile.

“Your tastes are as eclectic as ever, Tetsu-chan,” Oikawa sighs. He’s long since dropped the pleasantries with him.

“What can I say?” Kuroo leans against the rental kiosk, “I’m an interesting guy.”

“If we’re going by the textbook definition, probably.”

Kuroo raises an eyebrow, “Are you saying you’re _not_ interested in me?”

At this, Oikawa stands up, shoving the paper bag full of books into Kuroo’s arms. Kuroo stumbles back with an _ooomph!_ , “Alright, alright I get it! But I’m interested in _you_ , just so you know.”

Oikawa sits back down, “Everyone is! Get in line, Tetsu-chan.”

“C’mon!” Kuroo whines, “Will you at least give me your name? I’ve been coming here for forever.”

“Maybe return your books for once in your godforsaken life and I’ll consider it,” Oikawa sniffs. Truthfully, he had forgotten that Kuroo, for all of his many visits, still didn’t actually know his name. He had just kind of assumed that he had.

Not fifteen minutes after Kuroo leaves, Bokuto strolls in. A rare back-to-back visit, Oikawa thinks as he watches Bokuto deposit his books in the return bin and then make a bee-line to Oikawa’s desk.

“Morning!” he chirps.

“It’s two in the afternoon, but sure,” Oikawa says warily, taking in the way Bokuto seems to be fidgeting with his hands, picking at his nailbeds, “Did you have something you want to say?”

“That obvious, huh?” Bokuto rubs the back of his neck, looking far more bashful than Oikawa has ever seen him before. The blush tinging his ears is actually quite cute.

“Well, I just realized that I’ve been coming here for a while and I don’t even know your name!”

“Huh,” Oikawa narrows his eyes, “You’re the second guy today to ask me that.”

“O-Oh? You must be popular!”

“Obviously,” Oikawa mumbles. But Bokuto seems pretty harmless and nice, not to mention he actually returns his books, as a loyal library patron should. There’s no harm in humoring him, right?

“Oikawa. Oikawa Tooru.”

“Nice!” Bokuto looks ecstatic, “Nice to meet you Oikawa. I would introduce myself, but, uh, you already know my name. I should have thought of something else to say here, huh?”

Oikawa smiles in spite of himself, “No, you’re good. It’s nice to meet you officially, Bokkun.”

It’s an all-around nice moment of budding friendship – at least until Kuroo shows up.

“What the hell?!” He seems to appear out of nowhere, striding over from where he was hiding among the children’s books, pouting all the while, “So uncool, why do you like Bokuto more than me?”

“Don’t be mad,” Bokuto winds an arm around Kuroo’s shoulders, “You’re sometimes an acquired taste.”

“Not true! _You’re_ supposed to be the acquired taste – I’m supposed be the suave, alluring bad boy.”

_There’s no way in hell that’s true_ , Oikawa thinks, before pausing.

“Hold on… you two know each other?”

Bokuto and Kuroo exchange a look, a pretty palpable current of familiarity passing between them, before turning back to Oikawa. “He’s my boyfriend,” they say at the same time, gesturing to each other.

“ _Excuse me?!_ ” Oikawa bolts upright, struggling to keep his voice down to a furious whisper, “Tet—Kuroo, correct me if I’m wrong, but have you not been trying to get in my pants for, what, two months now?”

“Well, yeah,” Kuroo doesn’t even look embarrassed about it, “But so was Bokuto!”

Bokuto goes pink, but doesn’t deny it. Oikawa is more confused than ever, “And you were cool with that? Both of you? Then what the hell were you even mad about just now, Kuroo?”

“Because you told him your name but wouldn’t tell me!” Kuroo wails, earning him a few glares from the rest of the people actually using the library for normal library purposes, “And your nickname for him is way cuter!”

“We were trying to approach you separately,” Bokuto explains. He, at least, has the wherewithal to look a bit sheepish about everything.

“But I got too frustrated,” Kuroo adds.

“Anyway, we think you’re really cute and would like to take you on a date. If you’re okay with that!”

Oikawa realizes he’s still standing, and forces himself to sit down, legs a bit shaky.

“A date with… both of you?” he ventures.

“Yes.”

“Yes, please.”

“I’ll even bring back all my late library books,” Kuroo adds, “I was only checking them out to get your attention, anyway.”

Oikawa gives him a withering look, “Well, I guess it worked.”

Kuroo and Bokuto exchange another look, a semi-victorious one this time, “So, you’ll go out with us?”

“I _might_ ,” Oikawa says, reaching for a pen and pad of paper, “Consider it, that is. And I _might_ need some major convincing. And at least ten thousand yen from Tetsu-chan for his late fees,” he ignores Kuroo’s protest, ripping off a bit of paper to write his number on, “Here. Be careful with that, I don’t give it out very often.”

Bokuto is the one to snatch the scrap of paper, grinning eagerly, “We will! We’ll text you soon, Oikawa, you won’t regret it.”

_I already do,_ Oikawa almost says, before clamping his mouth shut because, well. That’s not strictly true.

Having endured enough of the odd glances from his fellow librarians, Oikawa finally shuffles Kuroo and Bokuto away from his desk. Bokuto waves goodbye, and Kuroo winks, asking for Oikawa to promise to text them back. Oikawa just raises a finger to his lips in a _shush_ ing motion, and sends them on their way.

(When the text does come, he doesn’t hesitate to respond.)


End file.
